


Delirium Oboediens

by PunishedPyotr



Series: *dʰegʷʰ [3]
Category: Metal Gear
Genre: Alternate Ending, Bondage, Edging, M/M, Mantis explains himself, Outdoor Sex, Toys, True Ending, of an alternate ending, reupload
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-22
Updated: 2018-03-22
Packaged: 2019-04-06 17:02:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,270
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14061429
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PunishedPyotr/pseuds/PunishedPyotr
Summary: Liquid runs.





	Delirium Oboediens

**Author's Note:**

> Once again I will acknowledge FoxLoaf as the driving force behind this fic.

Liquid very dimly realized, as he stroked his cock in quick, desperate jerks, that there would be hell to pay for this later. Mantis wasn’t one to make idle threats, after all. But of course this was his fault — winding him up like this, expecting him to resist the temptation to jack off for, what, fifteen hours - alone, with nothing else to do?

So that was how Liquid ended up sitting on the couch, the Mantodea book sitting on the table in front of him open to the SEXUAL CANNIBALISM section, palming his dick with his head tilted back and his eyes closed, indulging in that earlier passing thought about Mantis fucking him and biting his neck ’til it bled - in as much detail as he possibly could.

God, at this rate he was going to develop an out-and-out fetish for Mantis’ scarred face.

His hips raised off the couch as he climaxed, and while it wasn’t a particularly outstanding orgasm it still felt good as hell after all that frustration. He relaxed, his head lolling against the cushions, catching his breath, then opened his eyes.

Ah, fuck.

Right on Mantis’ book.

He hurriedly tucked his dick back in his pants and sprinted for the bathroom, grabbing a handful of tissues. Mantis was already going to be upset with him for masturbating when he was already being punished, but to make a mess of his Mantodea book, too…?

Liquid considered grabbing the money Mantis left him for food and just fleeing back to his own hotel, and getting on the road to Algeria like he had planned. He’d already lost enough time that the already-grueling trip was going to be borderline suicidal, and no, he didn’t yet feel entirely recovered from his bout of illness, but being a couple thousand kilometers away from Mantis for the next few weeks sounded like a very attractive prospect all of a sudden.

It wasn’t that he was afraid of further punishment, really, he just didn’t know how he could possibly face Mantis after failing the simplest possible instructions of _Do not masturbate while I am gone_. Mantis being disappointed in him would be a greater blow to his pride than anything Mantis might do or force Liquid to do in an effort to humiliate him.

Liquid stared at the warmly-colored banknotes on the table, then glanced back at the Mantodea book with its half-cleaned semen-sticky pages.

Okay.

Yeah, he was leaving.

Hopefully he wouldn’t die on the road. It seemed possible.

* * *

199X, the Middle East.  
Three weeks later.

Mantis got a call on his cell phone, from a payphone in Beni Slimane. He picked up immediately - he had no way of knowing for sure who was on the other end of the line, but clients never called from payphones, so there was only one person it was likely to be.

“Liquid??”

“Er… hello, Mantis. I- I haven’t called in a while, so…”

“Liquid, I thought you were _dead_.”

“You did not. You know me better than that.”

“I thought you had seriously injured yourself, then. Driving all the way to Médéa, in your condition — you only made things _worse_ for yourself, didn’t you?”

“Well… I did make it here in one piece.”

Mantis scoffed. “And your contract after that? How did things go with that? To think you spent two weeks in _combat_ immediately after spending a week trying to make sure you expired of illness and exhaustion in your car…”

“I’m fine, Mantis.”

“Are you now.”

“Things got a little, er, messy, but as of today the job itself is completed and I’m _fine_. I just- I thought you might be worried, so I decided to call. That’s all.”

There was a slight pause.

“Can you make it to Blida without killing yourself?” Mantis said dryly.

He could almost hear Liquid biting back a sharp retort. “Yes,” he said. “It’s not far.”

“Then I will catch a flight to Algiers immediately and I will meet you there tomorrow morning. Do I make myself clear?”

Liquid took a deep breath. “Of course, Mantis. I’ll see you then.”

* * *

Mantis knew he was within three miles of Liquid when he realized that Liquid was mortally embarrassed right now. He almost laughed to think about Liquid sitting on a bench not far from his hotel, staring at nothing with his jaw set, awaiting Mantis and feeling horribly, horribly uncomfortable about the conversation he was anticipating.

Well, he should be. Mantis knew exactly why Liquid had just taken the money and ran like that, even though by the time the hotel was in his psychic range again Liquid was probably already west of the border and halfway to Saveh.

It wasn’t hard to figure out what had transpired from the semen-stained Mantodea book left open on the table, after all.

Mantis’ cab pulled up in front of the bench Liquid was awkwardly waiting at. Mantis, plus luggage, stepped out and shooed the cab driver away, casually overriding his will so that he would conveniently forget to ask Mantis to pay his fare. Then Mantis turned to Liquid.

“Morning,” Liquid muttered, looking mostly at the ground.

Mantis looked him over, not particularly liking what he was seeing. Liquid had numerous bandages on what Mantis could see of his skin - nothing serious, as far as Mantis could see or Liquid had thought, but it did bespeak some pretty blatant carelessness on Liquid’s part.

Liquid self-consciously tugged one sleeve down over an injury. “My fever didn’t clear up until I was passing through the Djebel Chambi National Park, so going into the job I was a bit… off my game…”

“Your fever would have cleared up by the evening if you had stayed at my hotel,” Mantis sighed, sitting next to him. “It had gone down significantly, Liquid, I would not have left you alone if it had not. You only exacerbated it.”

“I thought as much.” He started searching for some way to change the subject, and settled on Mantis’ luggage - a medium-sized suitcase with books in it, and a small bookbag with suits in it. “Just passing through?”

“My next job is in Cairo. But since I have not eaten all week I thought it would be best to drive instead of fly so I can stop and eat something as I pass through an unpopulated area.”

Liquid perked up. “And since you don’t have a car of your own, you thought you’d ask me to drive you, yes?”

“Yes. How long-“

“Three days normally, but if we head south and go around Tunisia instead of through it, four. But that way we’d be going mostly through the Sahara and there aren’t going to be nearly as many people around than if we went along the coast.”

“Four days is good,” Mantis said, waving a hand imperiously.

As Liquid showed him to the car, Mantis allowed Liquid to assume he’d managed to worm his way out of any discussion of anything that had happened in Mantis’ hotel room three weeks ago. Of course, Mantis knew full well that the whole situation had been weighing rather heavily on Liquid’s mind this whole time - hence why he’d been so hesitant to call when he normally did it every other day. (Not that Mantis didn’t appreciate that. Perhaps it was the close to four years Liquid had spent as a POW not too long ago, but - Mantis really _had_ been worried about him. He didn’t like going long without news of what Liquid was up to and how he was doing.)

Mantis settled into the passenger seat of Liquid’s cheap, souped up, slightly bulletholed Jeep and they started heading south, and Mantis tolerated Liquid’s tone-deaf singing along to the various (eclectic) music tapes he’d gathered from here and there over the years.

Somewhere in Djelfa, Mantis decided that, as tentatively comfortable as Liquid was with trying to pretend that nothing had happened, they really _did_ need to talk, and told Liquid as much. Liquid’s hands tightened on the steering wheel when he said that.

“Okay,” Liquid said in a low voice, “go ahead.”

Mantis rested his head on his hand, looking out over the desert passing by. “I was not angry with you for what you did while delirious with fever - not really.”

“…oh?”

“I was upset, naturally, but I think the word ‘annoyed’ properly encapsulates my feelings about it. Yes, it was extremely uncomfortable, but even with as clouded as your mind was I could tell that raping me was not your goal. You wanted to make love to me and, truthfully, it was not your fault that you could not grasp that I didn’t want it.”

“I… well, yes,” Liquid said uncomfortably, “I’d never want to do anything against your will, Mantis.”

“I know. So that is why, once the shock wore off, I was able to write the incident off and I honestly could have forgotten about it entirely.”

There was a slight pause and Liquid wondered if he heard Mantis right.

Mantis shook his head, sighing. “I knew, Eli, that no matter what I said or did you would never be able to accept me just _forgiving_ you like that. I knew you would feel guilt over what you had done, and that you would continue to feel guiltier and guiltier as time went on - and while I suppose I could have just let you assume that that had been just a dream, I wasn’t comfortable with that option.” He glanced at him. “Not that you did not expect me to get upset with you for having that sort of dream.”

“You are kind of… high-strung,” Liquid said, forgetting to be irritated by the use of his given name.

Mantis rolled his eyes. “I could say the same about you. You would never have been able to forgive yourself for assaulting me while too ill to think, and you would have just torn yourself apart had I let you — the only way I could ensure that you would be able to move past that incident as well and let us move _on_ with our lives was to make us even. To get revenge on you, in short.”

“I see,” Liquid said. “So that’s why you punished me.”

“Yes. And as for why I did it the way I did — I also had to make sure, Eli, that you properly understood my acknowledgement of your feelings for me. So I decided to play to your stupid kinks.”

“Kill two birds with one stone?”

“Exactly. But… it seems you misunderstood me anyway.”

Again, a pause, but longer this time. The sun bore down on the two of them and Mantis idly wished that the Jeep had a roof.

“…sorry,” Liquid said lamely, steering with one hand while he frenetically picked at a bit of gauze with the other.

“You picked the most idiotic possible reason to run,” Mantis said. “I had assumed that you would _eventually_ figure out that, whether or not you managed to behave yourself, I would not have let you suffer your frustration _all_ day.”

“Sorry, Mantis, I’m really sorry.”

Mantis kicked back in his seat again, taking a more disdainful - and almost playful - tone of voice. “Shall we add that to your list of crimes, Eli? Running when you had no need to, taking such brazen risks with your life, and making me _worry_ about you?”

“I just…”

“And that is in addition to touching both me and yourself without my permission, ruining my book on the order Mantodea, and stealing money from me.”

“Hey,” Liquid said, with a strange little smile, “you left that money for me to use.”

“To buy _food_ , Eli, not gasoline. Oh, and the fact that you fantasized about me while you were touching yourself without my permission - I do not appreciate that, either.”

“Ah… I just couldn’t help myself, Mantis.”

“Mmm. And that is _precisely_ the problem.”

“I love you?”

“Considering that is also on your list of crimes, you can’t use that to wriggle your way out of this, Eli.”

Liquid laughed. “Alright, that’s fair.”

“Glad you are seeing things my way.”

* * *

Evening started to fall, and Liquid pulled over - well, stopped the car, since they hadn’t been on an actual road for a while now - for the night, since someone had shot out his headlights some time ago and they wouldn’t be able to continue until the sun came back up. Liquid dug up two rations out of his things and handed one to Mantis, grinning.

Much to his disappointment, Mantis pointedly turned his back on him before taking off his gas mask to eat.

“That’s just unnecessary, Mantis.”

“You know I do not like showing my face,” Mantis muttered. His voice sounded deeper somehow, but still raspy, without the filter in the way. Liquid liked it.

“I’ve seen your face before.” Only a handful of times, granted, but still… “You know I’m not repulsed by it.”

“Hn.” He didn’t turn around. Liquid figured circling around in front of Mantis would probably be pushing his luck.

He sort of hoped that Mantis would relax and keep it off and _eventually_ turn around to face him again, or at least glance at him and let Liquid catch a glimpse, but after Mantis was done eating (he took a lot longer than Liquid since he just picked at it for a while) he stood and strapped it back on.

“I feel more confident with my mask on,” Mantis replied to Liquid’s internal whinging at that.

“I suppose that’s understandable,” Liquid said grudgingly, then blinked. “Wait, why do you need to—- oh. _Oh_. Oh, god.”

“Mm.” Mantis sat down again, this time perching himself on one of the headrests on the backseat. “Come here, Eli.”

Liquid stood stiffly, then climbed into the backseat, sitting at Mantis’ feet. Mantis rewarded him by running his fingers through his hair affectionately.

Alright. This wasn’t going to be so bad.

“Nervous?” Mantis said softly.

“Er… no.” Yes, actually. But nonetheless Mantis ordering him around sent a little shiver of thrill through him all the same.

“Hmm.” Mantis drew his hand away. “Strip.”

Liquid did so hurriedly, knowing full well how red his face was steadily turning and feeling marginally relieved at the fact that Mantis wouldn’t really be able to see that between his tinted lenses and the darkness of the night around them. (Of course, just because Liquid had _had_ that thought, he would know perfectly well how hard Liquid was blushing, but somehow Mantis _knowing_ was easier to swallow than Mantis _seeing_.)

Mantis looked Liquid up and down, and Liquid knew he was mostly focused on the bandages for the moment. He seemed - not exactly disappointed, but exasperated. And of course concerned.

“One of these days…” he muttered, but didn’t finish the sentence.

“It’s not like I _try_ to get scraped up like this,” Liquid said defensively, keenly aware of the chill of the desert air against his bare skin. He pressed his arms tightly against himself, watching Mantis closely.

Mantis narrowed his eyes slightly. “You could stand to be a little more careful, Eli. But nevermind. Now, where did you leave that rope again…?”

Oh god.

“And that ridiculous toy you have hidden away in your luggage - have you managed to lose that somewhere, or is it still there?”

Liquid made a short, indignant sound in his throat, flushing even more. How long had Mantis _known_ about-?

“Since the first time you saw me after you bought it, obviously,” Mantis said, with a trace of dry amusement in his voice.

“D-Don’t just casually read my memories whenever we meet up, Mantis, there are some things I’d like to keep _private_.”

“And that, I suppose, is understandable.” One of Liquid’s bags unzipped and, after some shifting around of the things inside it, a long black dildo floated up ominously into view.

Liquid covered his face with his hands. This was not happening. Buck naked and being confronted by his own sex toy — this was _not_ happening.

Mantis cackled. “For shame, Eli, letting me get this sort of reaction out of you before I’ve even _touched_ you!”

“Oh my god. Mantis, get that thing out of my face.”

“Fine, fine.” Liquid dared to peek between his fingers at Mantis again - he was watching him, his head slightly tilted to the side, and the dildo was nowhere to be seen for now although Liquid more than suspected it would be coming up again in the immediate future. For now it looked like Mantis was about to abuse his privilege to the length of rope he was now holding in one hand.

As if in response to that thought, Liquid’s limbs jerked spontaneously, being wrenched by some invisible force behind his back, knees spread wide, ankles crossed, forearms pressed together, his spine arching somewhat uncomfortably. The rope wove around him, tightening into intricate knots and leaving him more or less immobilized and kneeling on the long-suffering backseat of his Jeep.

“O-Okay,” Liquid said, taking a deep breath, “what… exactly… is—?”

“It’s called shibari,” Mantis said, leaning forward slightly, “although I think in this situation the term _kinbaku_ is supposed to be used.”

“Er, right. Where on earth did you…?”

“When you read as many minds as I do,” Mantis said in a tone of airy disgust, “you tend to pick up some unwanted information here and there.” He nodded at Liquid, and again some invisible force moved him, pressing him against the seat so that he was sort of lying on his back with his weight forced on his bound limbs. Liquid winced. “This is called a gyaku ebi, a reverse shrimp tie.”

“N-Not the most comfortable thing…”

Mantis didn’t need to comment out loud to snark in reply - he just had to conspicuously glance at Liquid’s crotch then give him an unamused look about the way Liquid’s dick was already starting to stiffen. Liquid turned his head away, mortified, glad he could still move that much at least.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Mantis said, “this particular form of bondage originated as an interrogation technique in Japan a few centuries ago. I expect you will be finding out _why_ soon - supposedly it sends a horrible burning sensation along your core muscles if you are left in it for too long.”

Liquid wondered who the hell’s mind Mantis had been reading to find that out, and Mantis chuckled dryly, shaking his head.

“That tidbit I actually learned at the KGB. They employed some very… unsavory types, you know, Eli. But let’s not talk about that.”

“R-Right. I don’t think t-talking is exactly what’s on the agenda for tonight, a-anyway.”

“Mm.” Liquid felt Mantis’ foot against his neck, and very briefly it pressed _just_ hard enough to cut off his air and cause him to awkwardly stick his chest out, gasping silently — then Mantis relented, and Liquid sucked in a quick breath and felt Mantis’ foot wedge against his chin, turning his head to face him again.

“No,” Mantis said, “I do not think that _talking_ is going to be on your mind much. Nor do I think you are going to be capable of it by the time I’m done with you…”

Liquid gave him a shaky smile, a bit too aware of how hard he was starting to get at Mantis’ casual threats, and the way the rough texture of the rope bit into his skin. Lucky him, Mantis was clever enough to position the rope so that it wasn’t chafing against any of his recent wounds, but…

“But?” Mantis said.

“It- i-it still _hurts_ , Mantis.”

“I know. That is the idea. Raise your hips for me, Eli.”

Liquid did, swallowing hard. He hoped Mantis wouldn’t make him hold this position for long, not only was it embarrassing but it would be hell on his thighs after a while.

That damned black dildo came into his field of view again, along with the small bottle of (admittedly cheap) lube Liquid had bought to go with it. Mantis took his sweet time applying the stuff - using his psychokinesis, of course, he had his arms haughtily crossed - letting Liquid mull on the toy. It was, as stated, long - long enough that it could get inside Liquid deeper than his fingers ever could, and thick enough to feel good but not so thick that Liquid ever had to waste time preparing himself as long as he felt like tolerating the slight burn, and it was a shiny black that made Liquid have a sudden, eye-widening realization that he had picked out _that_ toy in particular because it had subconsciously reminded him of Mantis.

Oh, _god_.

“Well,” Mantis said snidely, “ _I_ did not want to say it.”

“I-I- I— Mantis, I-I’ve been in love with you since I was _twelve_ , y-you know that, we b-both know that. It shouldn’t be surprising th-that I’d… I’d… well…”

“Oh, hush. Honestly I am more surprised that it was not until last year that you decided to actually spend your hard-earned money on your revolting little self-pleasure habit.”

“Hey, I don’t do it often enough t-to qualify it as a h-habit!”

“You do it often enough to annoy me.” He pressed his foot against Liquid’s face, turning it away again and no longer allowing him to look at him. “And you thought I never knew about those deliberately abstruse fantasies you concocted about fucking me until I was practically melting in your arms… I think, Eli, that you don’t realize just _how much_ of that garbage bin you call a mind I see whenever I come into contact with you.”

“Gkk.”

“Interesting that the tone of your fantasizing about me should change so abruptly, though - what was it you got yourself into this predicament over, again…? Sexual cannibalism, I believe?”

“Y-You fucking me a-and biting my n-neck until I was bruised a-a-and b-bleeding,” Liquid stammered around the toe of Mantis’ boot digging into his cheek.

“You find inspiration from the oddest places. Now, relax.”

It was difficult to follow Mantis’ instructions when his thighs were already starting to ache a little from the strain of keeping his hips lifted in this position. And he couldn’t help but tense further when he felt the slicked-up head of that stupid rubber cock nosing its way between his asscheeks and pressing insistently against his hole.

Liquid unsuccessfully swallowed a moan.

* * *

His body was sore, pain shooting through his muscles at every movement, no matter how slight, which was problematic because Liquid was currently shaking and clumsily rolling his hips, panting and biting his lip, his head still turned away from Mantis. He’d been on the verge of orgasm for an intolerably long time — every time he felt his climax building all stimulation would abruptly stop, and after that once he started to calm down and collect himself a bit, it would resume, the dildo in his ass fucking him deeper than he’d ever managed to get it by himself, and sometimes Mantis would press his foot against his throat again, choking him and making his head spin.

There were tears in his eyes by now.

God… this was great, but it was really too much.

“Overwhelmed already?” Mantis said mockingly from above him, still sitting on the back of the seat. “It has only been three and a half hours.”

Liquid made a dazed groan in reply. Words weren’t exactly coming readily to his mind anymore.

“I could do this all night, Eli.”

“Mmn… M-M-Mantis… p-please…”

“Hm?” Again Mantis hooked the toe of his boot against Liquid’s jaw and turned his head towards him. “Ah, just look at you.”

“A-Ahh… god… p-please, Mantis… j-just let me—….”

The toy started thrusting again, hammering his prostate, and his back arched painfully, the rope digging into his flesh and scraping terribly. He moaned loudly.

“Tears in your eyes,” Mantis murmured, “I wonder if I can get you to cry…? How much dignity can I get you to surrender? You are surprisingly willing to set aside your pride in front of me, but surely there are lines even _you_ don’t want to cross.”

“Mantis, oh g-god, ohhh, fuck… a-ahh… l-let me— please let me—“

He trailed off into a loud whine. It was cut off when Mantis stepped down on his neck once more. He struggled for air — it didn’t come — he held it long enough that Liquid’s lungs started to burn and black started to edge his vision and there was a faraway sensation of _wet_ on his cheeks - then Mantis relented.

“There we go,” Mantis said. Liquid gasped, blinking hard, his chest heaving against the decoratively knotted rope. Dimly he realized that the dildo’s pace had cooled, moving slower now, almost gentle — teasing. Every throb of his too-hard dick felt like a powerful cramp and he could barely think.

“A-Ahh… hh… Mantis, I- I love y-you so much,” Liquid wheezed, staring up at the night sky and the stars spread across it, crisp and bright and close. Hell of a night to lose his virginity. Hell of a  _way_ to do it, too.

“I know,” Mantis said simply.

Liquid was moved again, the same invisible force of Mantis’ psychic powers dragging him up to kneel, relieving some of the pressure against his limbs but at the same time shoving the fake dick in deeper than he’d even thought was _possible_ , the base of it digging into his flesh hard enough that he was sure he was going to be feeling that well into the next day. He cried out, bucking his hips uselessly with as limited a range of motion as he had right now. At the same time, Mantis slid down off the back of the seat and sat behind Liquid, putting an arm around his waist.

Liquid desperately rocked back and forth, trying to see if he could rub the top of his cock up against Mantis’ forearm, but it was just out of reach. He whimpered, straining against his ties. He was so close, so _fucking_ close—-

“Patience, Eli,” Mantis whispered, the filter of his gas mask pressed against his ear.

“M-Mantis, Mantis, please, I c-can’t, it hurts, Mantis, p-please—“

“Hush.” There was the sound of the buckles on Mantis’ mask unclasping, and Mantis’ arm around him briefly tightened around him - Liquid hoped he wouldn’t lose his nerve… “Oh, shut up,” Mantis said, his voice unfiltered once more, and holy fuck Liquid could literally _feel_ the warmth of Mantis’ _breath_ against his ear, “and keep looking straight ahead, I do not want you seeing me like this.”

“Y-Yes, Mantis,” Liquid said, doing him one better and closing his eyes.

He let out a thin whine as he felt Mantis’ lips against the side of his neck - then groaned as he felt teeth, pressing almost experimentally.

_oh god yes please_ , Liquid thought, a little incoherently, _yes please please please Mantis do it do it please yes_

_Eager, hm?_ came Mantis’ voice into his head in response, at the same time as he felt Mantis’ teeth sink down enough that it was probably going to leave a mark.

_yes yes yes yes please yes Mantis I love you_

Mantis kept biting him, shifting behind him to get his mouth around front and sometimes kissing gently instead — Liquid squirmed in his grasp, whimpering softly, pleadingly, still trying in vain to find some friction against his swollen, heavy cock.

“O-Oh fuck… Mantis, p-please, just… j-just… oh… mmngh…”

He tilted his head back, giving Mantis as much flesh as possible to torment and bruise, moaning. Mantis took him up on the offer. Liquid’s legs shook, shifting restlessly, unintentionally fucking himself with the dildo.

_Almost at your limit?_ Mantis thought, kissing his throat.

“Y-Yes… yes, Mantis… p-please…”

“Mmm.”

Mantis bit down hard enough that Liquid’s flesh tore and he felt blood running down his throat — and he had the best, most intense orgasm of his life, screaming up at the cold night sky.

…

He hadn’t realized he’d kind of spaced out after his climax until he realized that the toy was gone and he’d been untied and allowed to sprawl across the backseat, resting with his back against Mantis’ chest. His skin was red and scraped raw where the ropes had been, and his whole body was aching so much he could hardly move.

Mantis had dug up Liquid’s first aid kit and was calmly disinfecting the bite wound on his neck, which Liquid realized only now was actually pretty shallow, only _barely_ deep enough to draw blood.

“Oh…” Liquid mumbled dreamily, “was it… Mantis, was it good for you, too…?” He grimaced at the sting of the alcohol wipe bringing him back to his senses. “That- ow— th-that really isn’t necessary, Mantis.”

“Shh.” Liquid was glad to hear that Mantis still wasn’t wearing his mask. “The fact that I broke your skin is almost too much for me in the first place, Eli, so at least let me tend to the wound.”

“Mnn…”

He let Mantis press a little gauze pad to his neck and tape it there, then move down his body, changing his other bandages and discarding the ones no longer needed, conspicuously using his hands instead of his psychic powers, his touch intoxicatingly gentle against Liquid’s oversensitive skin.

“You take such good care of me,” Liquid murmured breathlessly.

“Of course I do,” Mantis replied. “Really, it is my only goal in life. I am so lost and aimless without you, Eli… I need you.”

“I love you…”

“I know.”

Liquid felt Mantis rest his head on his shoulder, and chanced a glance to the side - Mantis withdrew before Liquid could catch a glimpse. Liquid whined, raising his hand halfway to try to touch Mantis’ face, but it hurt too much so he settled back against Mantis again.

“I really do not understand your fascination with my face,” Mantis said.

“I _like_ it,” Liquid said, “I like _you_.”

“Hm.”

“At least let me kiss you.”

A moment’s consideration, then Mantis shifted again, resting his chin on Liquid’s shoulder, and Liquid turned his head, tiredly kissing a scar just over Mantis’ temple.

_I meant on the mouth_ , he thought, nuzzling him.

“Perhaps another time.”

_Come onnnn, Mantis._

Mantis sighed and moved again, placing one hand over Liquid’s eyes and leaning forward to press his lips against his. It lasted about two seconds and then he withdrew, resettling behind Liquid.

Liquid frowned. “Mantis…”

“I gave you want you wanted, Eli.”

“But I want _more_.”

“Selfish.”

Mantis started stroking Liquid’s hair, and a few moments later Liquid started hearing Mantis’ breath rasping through the gas mask again, a sure sign that he had put it back on. He sighed.

He was kind of cold.

At least, with Mantis being psychic and all, Liquid didn’t have to complain about that out loud and Mantis didn’t have to disturb Liquid’s comfortable snuggling against him to grab a tattered blanket and drape it over Liquid.

“Better?”

“Mmm.” He closed his eyes. “I’m going to have a whole ring of bruises around my neck come tomorrow, won’t I? And they probably won’t fade for another week…”

“Most likely.” Mantis’ fingers worked into his hair, lightly scratching his scalp. Liquid tilted his head back into his touch, making a soft appreciate noise. “If anyone asks, Eli, be sure not to say something that will embarrass me.”

“No promises.”

“Ha… well, if you wish to alert all your clients that you are my deviant little bitch, go ahead. I’m sure that that will not have any negative consequences.”

“Mph. Maybe I’ll just come up with some excuse.”

“I thought so…”

**Author's Note:**

> (hahahaha this is IT guys!! the last fic i had to reupload!!! the only things left are the remaining chapters of feet upon the ground and miscellany... other than that... nothing but fresh hot original authentic aireyv content from here on out!!!!! :D -pp)


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